Neural Noise

University of Michigan first in-human wireless BCI recording

2 min read

  • A University of Michigan team led the first in-human recording with a new wireless brain-computer interface.1
  • First in-human wireless BCI recording is a near-term execution signal for device validation and clinical-path relevance.1
  • The wireless form factor matters for trials and adoption; institutional press reports implementation as explicit.1 1

Weekly enrichment (2026-07-20)

  • The device involved is the Connexus Brain-Computer Interface made by Paradromics Inc.; the first in-human recording was led by U-M neurosurgeon and biomedical engineer Matthew Willsey, M.D., Ph.D., with functional neurosurgery director Oren Sagher, M.D., and a multidisciplinary team.23
  • Connexus is a fully implantable wireless BCI roughly the size of a dime/penny containing 421 microelectrodes, each thinner than a human hair, that record from individual neurons.24
  • The initial recording (June 2025) was made during a temporal lobectomy for epilepsy; the team demonstrated the device could be implanted, record electrical brain signals, and be removed intact in under 20 minutes using standard neurosurgical techniques.53
  • In the intended clinical form, microelectrode signals travel along a thin wire to a transceiver implanted in the chest, which wirelessly transmits data to an external receiver and a computer running AI/decoding algorithms.24
  • The human procedure followed nearly three years of preclinical studies with the same device, marking Paradromics’ transition to a clinical-stage company.5
  • The FDA granted Paradromics an Investigational Device Exemption in November 2025 for the Connect-One Early Feasibility Study, which evaluates long-term safety and whether the BCI can restore communication via synthesized text and speech plus computer control.4
  • The first permanent implant was performed in a woman from Michigan by Willsey and neurosurgery chair Aditya S. Pandey, M.D.; Michigan Medicine is one of three sites enrolling participants.4
  • Paradromics describes Connexus as its highest-data-rate BCI platform, and CEO Matt Angle framed the first human surgery as a key inflection point toward clinical translation.5

Footnotes

  1. https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi0gFBVV95cUxNNUpBaG10djVrdnVveDRVQV90S1lEX19DUU1hTk5ReVcxSFdXOERScHJCNl9jSkpzRGpfT0ttSWF2OV9TQlItVU1OVU1EeVRCemJkcnVHUmlqQXBMRnpxa0FaS3ZTU3hydHZabWphVkRmR3E2UUtKSDJrOUlZcHByaTMzRW9rQWRvaWU1aFZsNW01Yi1oZlpjZWROLW1QR2JwblZCREtvcnFpUmcySEcxVGg4ci1QU2tBaGZDX0V2dUtHUXl2elpfQVowS1B3YUtySkE?oc=5 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. https://www.michiganmedicine.org/news-release/university-michigan-team-leads-first-human-recording-new-wireless-brain-computer-interface ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. https://bme.umich.edu/2025/06/20/u-m-multidisciplinary-team-leads-first-in-human-recording-with-wireless-brain-computer-interface/ ↩ ↩2

  4. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1132432 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. https://www.paradromics.com/news/paradromics-completes-first-in-human-recording-with-the-connexus-brain-computer-interface ↩ ↩2 ↩3

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